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Early doors
The List springs a first week visit to the new Ad Lib in Glasgow’s Merchant City and finds that — give or take a few minor teething troubles — they’re already fully up to speed.
AD LIB RESTAURANT 8 BAR
Ad Lib, 33 Ingram Street, Glasgow, 0141 552 5736. A. modern. American diner, Ad Lib opened. itsfirst branch in Hope Street, and has now added. asegond yepue Lathe. Member): .Qijy..- _
Sample menu item: Monoccan lamb burger with tomato and coriander salsa: £8.75
he hest time to review a hudding restaurant is
pt‘ohahi} not in the lirst week of its operation. Nine
times out ol‘ ten. the initial l'ortnight ean he hedevilled h}' a variet) ol‘ hieeups I'l‘tilli stall training lessons still to sink in. to nois_v hutt-eheek exposed joiners still eompleting their snagging list ~ not to mention various other bedding in and teething issues.
On the other hand. rarer do these ventures eharge eustomers hall‘ priee during those opening innings. so presumahI_v they‘re lair game for reviewers to visit. [iron] the other side ol‘ the I'enee. eertainlv. the pressures ol‘ tnodern publishing put kudos ~ rightly or wrongly s on getting there and into print lirst. ev en when evervhodv knows that it isn‘t the hest period tojudge an enihr_\onie outlit.
But other ineidentals ean al'l‘eet a review. In the run-up to ('hristmas. amid the eommereial and eonsumerist deluge. restaurants ol‘ten operate in a dil'l‘erent manner. They can he
heset with large groups. whieh
would not normalI} deseend. 'I’he kitehens ean also opt liot'
those horrihlv predietahie
speeial liestive season menus. with the ohligatorv turke} with
'all the l'ixings‘. that also invariath hiaek up the priee a tlttitI or two.
Then there are the vagaries oi. the season. In (ilasgow. the K months ol November and '
I)eeeniher Iast _\ear were like s living in a eonstant l_\phoon.
with wind whipping tip I disjointed IH‘UIIies like
popeorn in a hlow -dr_ver. while
the rain lell rather eonstantI_v or rather whistIed h_v hori/ontall). Not necessarily ideal eonditions to judge whether a plaee has eaught on. either.
I‘inaIIv. an} lood writers worth their seasoning should tlI\\;t}‘s visit ineognito. Alas. alter some _vears in the game. invariahl} one will get eaught out oeeasionallv h_v managers who have heen it just as long. .\'ot the end of the world. however: e\ en pla_v direetors and hand managers know when the erilies are going to he in the house. The show must go on.
.-\nd with that. so it did go on amid the monsoons of mid— I)eeeniher at the reeentl) Opened hraneh ol' .v\d I.ih in the .\Ierehant (‘it_v. Residents will he lamiliar with the Ioeation: the old I‘irehouse that once housed the Iiire Station restaurant lanyme rememher its haggis pasta dish?) and (iurnho alter that.
Design alterations are not as dramatie as the ehanging I‘ootl'aII on eastern Ingram Street these days with the newI_v opened student IIals on the High Street nearhv 'I‘he venture feels as il~ it's ahout li\ e times the si/e ol' the flagship Ad I.ih on Ilope Street. The eeiling has heen painted a sol'ter.
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